Socio-cultural background: In the first two verses of second Nephi we have the third time that Lehi receives communication from the Lord. There is no indication of the expanse of time between the first two visions which precipitated Lehi's prophetic mission. Since Lehi was called to preach to the people of Jerusalem, it must be assumed that he did so, and did so for some passage of time. This next communication, however, marks the end of Lehi's mission to Jerusalem, and begins his mission to lead his family to the New World.
In 1 Nephi 2:11 Lehi states "I have dreamed a dream; or in other words, I have seen a vision." The prophetic mode of communication to Lehi was through the medium of dreams. In the Old Testament this was one of a set of acceptable means of receiving communication from God. One of the most famous dreamers of the Old Testament is Joseph (for instance Genesis 37:5-10). Joseph not only receives a dream which indicates that he will eventually rule over his brethren (which very dream precipitates the events which will put Joseph in a position to fulfill the dream) but also serves as the dream interpreter for Pharaoh.
The dreams that Joseph interpreted were full of images, images of bread, birds, wheat, fat and starving cattle. Other dreamers of the Old Testament similarly dreamed of images: "13 And when Gideon was come, behold, [there was] a man that told a dream unto his fellow, and said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and, lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came unto a tent, and smote it that it fell, and overturned it, that the tent lay along.14 And his fellow answered and said, This [is] nothing else save the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel: [for] into his hand hath God delivered Midian, and all the host (Judges 7:13-14)."
The tradition of symbolic dreams continues into the New Testament, with the heavily symbolic Apocalypse of John. The hallmark of the dreamer is not the voice of the Lord, not the dictatable exposition of the will of the Lord, but a play with its own syntax and meaningful symbology. Lehi appears to fit into that mold with the rare glimpses we have into his visions. Unfortunately for the study of Lehi, we have Nephi's rendition of the dreams, not Lehi's. Contrary to Lehi, Nephi's prophetic mode was not one of dreaming. In fact, Lehi is the only dreamer attested in the Book of Mormon. It appears that this prevalent Old Testament mode of accepted communication between God and man dies out with Lehi and is replaced by a more direct and less symbolic mode of communication.
The difficulty in interpreting the symbolic dreams is probably one of the reasons why Lehi's family was not able to give him full support during the times of crisis. Not only do Laman and Lemuel deride their father as a "visionary man" (1 Nephi 2:11) but even his wife emphasizes her concerns by calling him a visionary man (1 Nephi 5:2). The difficulty in understanding the message of the dreams leads even Nephi to struggle with his father's dreams, in particular, this most recent dream which commands their departure: "And it came to pass that I, Nephi, being exceedingly young, nevertheless being large in stature, and also having great desires to know of the mysteries of God, wherefore, I did cry unto the Lord; and behold he did visit me, and did soften my heart that I did believe all the words which had been spoken by my father; wherefore, I did not rebel against him like unto my brothers. (I Nephi 2:16)."
Nephi's later discourse on his father's dream of the Tree of Life further indicates that Nephi was not a dreamer, and did not understand revelation through the medium of dreams. It if for this reason (most likely) that Nephi's accounts of his father's dreams is typically quite abbreviated, and relegated to a restatement of the purpose rather than the precise content of the dream. Of course this changes for the Tree of Life dream, but for reasons which will be examined when that dream is discussed.